WORKac
WORKac
Book
Buildings for People and Plants is a monograph on the New York–based architecture studio WORKac, published by Park Books. Featuring ten recent projects — including the North Boulder Library, RISD’s Student Success Center, and the Miami Museum Garage — the book explores how WORKac’s architecture navigates the interconnected realms of environment, community, and design.
The design echoes the studio’s signature qualities: bold use of colour, inventive apertures, and a playful yet rigorous spatial logic. Both front and back covers feature large die-cut openings revealing vibrant colour beneath — a direct nod to the layered surprises in WORKac’s built work. Inside, colour inserts and structural typography introduce rhythm and movement, turning the book into a spatial experience in its own right.
The book is set in Axo, a rounded geometric typeface designed by Charles Mazé. Developed between 2021 and 2024, Axo revisits early-20th-century industrial lettering standards—print-script alphabets, technical-drawing stencils, and models such as DIN and the French E04-105—first distilled by Edward Johnston’s idea of “essential forms.” Its monolinear strokes and softly rounded terminals echo the functional clarity of engineering plans while retaining a distinctly human touch. Bold, geometric letterforms are used at drastic scales across the book, it feels both functional and approachable.
Contributors: Amale Andraos, Dan Wood, Heidi Zuckerman, Nicolai Ouroussoff
2025
